Hamilton Ends Red Bull Run
June 12, 2010
Lewis Hamilton has ended the pole position streak of Red Bull after he took pole position for the Canadian Formula One Grand Prix.
The seven consecutive poles this season for Red Bull came to an end on the last lap of qualifying as Hamilton snatched pole from Mark Webber.
Webber’s Red Bull team-mate Sebastian Vettel claimed third position ahead of Fernando Alonso in his Ferrari, Button fifth, Liuzzi in Force India sixth. To round out the top ten it was Massa, Kubica, Sutil and Rosberg.
Despite taking second place Webber was happy as he starts the race on a tyre compound that he thinks will give him an edge.
Vettel Hands McLaren Turkish Grand Prix Win
May 30, 2010
A coming together of Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel on lap 41 has seen McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton win the Turkish Formula One Grand Prix.
Was Vettel to blame for the incident? Some would say yes, some no. The unfortunate thing is that the Red Bulls were in positions one and two when Vettel looked to pass Webber. In the end Webber was still able to grab third position. If you missed the incident here it is in video.
It appeared that as the Red Bull Racing cars were side by side, Vettel drifted right and made contact with his team mate. The result was a puncture for Vettel. Webber was able to continue however the incident allowed Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button to pass.
Later in the race we almost saw Hamilton and Button come together. Button had just snuck past Hamilton to take the race lead. Hamilton then made some moves on the main straight and went back into the lead. Just another inch or two and the cars could have been sent crashing off the circuit.
The important point to note was that McLaren made big strides on the weekend to close the gap on the Red Bull cars and they were very close in speed. The Red Bulls did not race away into the distance.
Behind the two top teams it was Mercedes that came home next with Michael Schumacher in fourth and then Nico Rosberg in fifth. Robert Kubica was sixth then the Ferrari pair of Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso.Adrian Sutil was ninth and rounding out the top ten was Kamui Kobayashi.
Webber still leads the Formula One drivers championship with 93 points, then Button 88, Hamilton 84, Alonso 79 and Vettel 78.
One thing I have to say is that luck seems to be with Webber rather than against him. In the past an incident like the one with Vettel quite often saw him come off second best.
Webber Hot Streak Continues in Turkey
May 29, 2010
Mark Webber has continued his recent run of red hot form. This time he has collected his third consecutive pole position.
Racing around the Turkish Grand Prix track, Webber was able to set the fastest time of 1:26.295 to edge out Lewis Hamilton who had a time of 1:26.433. Next came Webber’s team mate Sebastian Vettel with a time of 1:26.760.
Jenson Button who had been the fastest driver in practice on Friday could only manage fourth spot with 1:26.781. Michael Schumacher edged out his Mercedes team mate to claim fifth spot. He had a time of 1:26.857 while Rosberg lapped in 1:26.952.
Robert Kubica, Felipe Massa, Vitaly Petrov and Kamui Kobayashi rounded out the top ten.
The surprise of qualifying was seeing Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso fail to make the top ten. He could only manage 12th spot with Adrian Sutil one up on him in 11th.
Webber has again shown his red hot pace and now has the chance to once again go from pole and collect a win.
He currently leads the Formula One drivers championship in a tie with Sebastian Vettel. They both are on 78 points.
From the past six races Webber has taken four pole positions and has been second on two occasions. He has won the past two races, crossing the line first in the Spanish Grand Prix and at Monaco.
Another win could see him bolt off into the distance although it is a bit early to be crowning him World Champion for 2010.
It should be an exciting race tomorrow.
Lewis Hamilton Charged
May 23, 2010
Lewis Hamilton may live to regret his burnout performed on a Melbourne street earlier this year. The 2008 Formula One World Champion has been charged with intentionally losing control of a vehicle in a summons served on his Australian solicitor last Monday.
The matter is set to be heard in the Melbourne Magistrates Court on August 24.
As the Belgian Grand Prix is to be held on the weekend of 27-29 August it is unlikely that Hamilton will be at his hearing.
Hamilton is currently in 7th place on the Formula One drivers championship in 2010. Australia’s Mark Webber is joint leader with his Red Bull Racing teammate Sebastian Vettel.
Webber Wins Monaco F1
May 16, 2010
Mark Webber has become the first Australian since Sir Jack Brabham in 1959 to win the Monaco F1 Grand Prix. With the win he also leads the Formula One drivers championship.
Webber is joint leader of the drivers championship along with team-mate Sebastian Vettel. They are on 78 points ahead of Fernando Alonso on 75 and Jenson Button on 70.
In what must be one of the biggest stuff-ups this season something was left on Button’s car that blocked air-flow into the engine and he was forced to retire with a cooked engine shortly after a Nico Hulkenburg crash had brought out the safety car.
For Webber it is a special win. Monaco is a race that most drivers would say they would want to win above all others. He has done that along with leading the drivers championship. It is the first time an Australian has led the championship since Alan Jones in 1981.
After getting away from pole in the lead Webber pretty much dominated the race. His winning margin was only reduced thanks to the safety car bunching the field. The safety car was deployed on four separate occasions.
In the end it was a Red Bull 1-2 as Vettel came home in second place ahead or Renault’s Robert Kubica. Vettel had passed Kubica at the opening sprint before the first corner. Webber was actually slow to start the race however as Kubica tried to make his move he had wheel spin and that allowed Vettel to move into second position.
Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso must be happy to go all the way from starting in the pits to claim sixth position and along with that 8 championship points.
Ahead of him after the top three were Felipe Massa in fourth and Lewis Hamilton in fifth. Michael Schumacher should have ended the race in seventh however he made a passing move just after the safety car left the track at the end of the race and this move was deemed illegal. The 20 second penalty that was applied dropped him back to 12th.
For Red Bull racing it could not get much better. They had the 1-2, took the lead in both the formula one drivers championship and constructors championship and they also saw Jenson Button not complete the race.
Webber is obviously the form driver at the moment with back-to-back wins but there still is a long way to go this season.
The next race is the Turkish Grand Prix to be held over 28-30 May in Istanbul. It is race number 7 out of 19.
Webber Denies Pole of Pole
May 15, 2010
Mark Webber has continued the hot qualifying run of Red Bull by taking pole position for the Monaco Grand Prix. In doing so he denied Poland’s Robert Kubica.
Webber dashed around the Monaco circuit in 1m 13.826s and was the only driver to break 1m 14 s. Kubica was not far behind with 1m 14.120s. Sebastian Vettel took third spot on the grid with a late 1m 14.227s to move him ahead of Felipe Massa who recorded 1m 14.283s.
The pole position for Red Bull makes it six from six this season and the third for Webber. He converted pole position into a win in the last race in Spain.
Fernando Alonso had been the pacesetter in early practice however a crash in the morning ruled him out of qualifying altogether. He now starts from the pit lane.
Lewis Hamilton took fifth position with a time of 1m 14.452s, Nico Rosberg moved late to take sixth with 1m 14.544s in his Mercedes GP car, Michael Schumacher seventh with 1m 14.590s and Jenson Button was eighth for McLaren with 1m 14.637s.
Webber is the first Australian to be on pole since Jack Brabham in 1967. Brabham was also the last Australian to win the race, way back in 1959.
Webber says it was Brabham that started the dream of racing success for him as his father followed Brabham and it all went from there.
I cannot wait for the race. Hopefully another Webber win however it is a long tough race and anything can happen in Formula One.
Webber on top in Spain
May 9, 2010
The odds were with Mark Webber going into the Spanish F1 race. The past nine pole sitters went on to win the race. As with any long streak the longer it goes the more likely it is that it will end.
Webber started the race well and won the sprint to the first corner. He had plenty of cars to fight off including his teammate Sebastian Vettel. Once he rounded the first corner and was in front it was all plain sailing from there as he converted his pole into a win.
For Vettel the race was not so smooth. He had a bad pit stop as he had to wait for cars to come past before being released and later in the race he had brake problems. In the end he can think himself lucky to grab third.
Fernando Alonso split the Red Bulls coming home an unexpected second. He gained a spot on the second last lap when Lewis Hamilton crashed out of the race when in second. A left front tyre was the undoing of Hamilton.
Michael Schumacher got his best result of the season with fourth position however he could not be happy with how far back he was from the race winner. Nico Rosberg could not manage to get any points on the day as he ended the race in 13th.
Jenson Button kept his lead at the top of the Formula One drivers championship with a fifth place. He had technical problems in the car losing his display on the dashboard.
For a change it was McLaren that had the bad run. Hamilton’s crash and problems with Buttons car saw them get a worse result than the speed of their car suggested.
Felipe Massa 6th, Andrian Sutil 7th, Robert Kubica 8th, Rubens Barrichello 9th and Jaime Alguersuari 10th rounded out the point scoring positions.
In terms of positions gained Barrichello had a good race going from 17th on the grid to at least get two points.
After the Spanish Grand Prix the Formula One drivers championship sees Jenson Button out in front with 70 points, Alonso second on 67, then Vettel 60, Webber 53, Rosberg 50.
The Constructors championship is tight with McLaren on top with 119, Ferrari 116 and Red Bull Racing 113. There is a big gap down to Mercedes on 72.
Next weekend the Formula One season moves to Monte Carlo.
Webber’s Late Run Grabs Pole
May 8, 2010
Red Bull Racing continued their dominant qualifying form with Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel taking top spots on the grid for the Spanish F1 grand prix.
The pair dominated all three sessions of qualifying and it appeared that Vettel would take pole with a time of 1:20.101. Webber had other ideas and came home strong to record 1:19.995 and snatch pole.
That makes it five straight for Red Bull Racing and the second time Webber will start from pole position. The previous time he could not convert it into a race victory taking second at the Malaysian Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton was a distant third with a time of 1:20.829 followed by Fernando Alonso 1:20.937, Button 1:20.991 and Schumacher took P6 on the grid with 1:21.294.
The good and bad news for Webber is that the race has been won from pole for the past nine years. The pressure is on him to maintain that run.
Red Bull with their domination of qualifying this season should be higher up on the points table so they will be keen to convert a 1-2 in qualifying to a 1-2 in the race. As Vettel said in the press conference you don’t get points for qualifying.
Look forward to the race on Sunday.
Red Bull On Top Early in Spain
May 7, 2010
In Friday’s practice for the Spanish Formula One Grand Prix it was Lewis Hamilton who set the pace early. He set the pace with a 1:21.134 fastest lap. Jenson Button was second with 1:21.672, then came Michael Schumacher and the two Red Bulls.
In the second practice Red Bull had got their act together and were clearly out in front. Sebastian Vettel was the only driver to go under 1:20 when he lapped in 1:19.965, Webber was not far behind with 1:20.175.
There was a huge gap back to third with Schumacher lapping in 1:20.757, then Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso 1:20.819, Lewis Hamilton 1:21.191.
It will be interesting to see qualifying on Saturday.
Button Leads McLaren One-Two in Chinese Grand Prix
April 18, 2010
Jenson Button has won the Chinese Grand Prix ahead of team mate Lewis Hamilton to complete a one-two finish for the McLaren team.
Last year it was Red Bull who took the one-two finish and it looked likely that they could repeat this as Sebastian Vettel started on pole with Mark Webber alongside him.
As the race started in Shanghai rain was closing in and it was Fernando Alonso who took the lead. He was later to be judged to have jumped the start and had to take a drive-through penalty.
On the first lap Liuzzi lost control and went spinning into Kobayashi and Buemi. That incident saw that trio of drivers exit the race and the safety car came out while debris was cleared from the track.
On lap two Alonso and Webber pitted as they thought the rain was coming down heavily enough to warrant intermediates. It turned out to be a bad move.
The safety car left the track on lap 3 of 56 and it was Nico Rosberg who led the field ahead of Button and Kubica.
On lap five Alonso took his drive-through penalty and Vettel pitted for a swap to hard, dry tyres. Hamilton and Vettel almost touched tyres, or did, coming out of the pits.
Now it was Rosberg and Button fighting for the lead. Eventually Rosberg made a mistake and went wide allowing Button to take the lead on lap 19.
With rain coming and going there was plenty of action in the pits, also on the track the safety car was again deployed as Alguersuari clipped another car causing his wing to come off and end up on the track.
Af the restart Button bunched up the field before getting away. Webber and Hamilton had some contact but managed to stay in the race.
As the race continued quite a few of the drivers has some dicey moments with a spin here and there or running off the track. Webber lost his back end and allowed Petrov take P7.
With the rain getting heavier Button was advised to take it easy as he headed for the chequered flag.
Button managed to make it safely and the race was his. Hamilton completed the one-two and Rosberg was third. P4 went to Alonso which was a good effort seeing he had five pit stops, next was Kubica, Vettel, Petrov, Webber, Massa, Schumacher. Schumi in P10 took the last of the points on offer.
In P11 was Sutil, Barrichello in P12, Alguersuari in P13, Kovalainen P14, Hulkenberg P15, Senna P16 and Chandhok in P17 was the last of the drivers still running at the end.
With the win Button now leads the Formula One drivers championship in 2010. He is on 60 points, Rosberg is second on 50, Alonso and Hamilton are level on 49 points. Vettel is 5th with 45 points, then Massa, Kubica, Webber, Sutil and Schumacher is 10th.
McLaren Mercedes leads the constructors championship on 109, Ferrari 90, Red Bull 73, Mercedes GP 60.
So that ends another round of the Formula One drivers championship in 2010. An interesting race thanks to the rain. It was another disappointing day for Red Bull considering they had pole and second to start the race.
